


Visiting Hours

by pencilguin



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 21:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18646642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: [spoilers for S2] After the Discovery’s fateful jump through time, Saru sends Tilly down to get a status update from sickbay. She uses the opportunity to check in on her boss.





	Visiting Hours

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta’d. I apologize for any mistakes that might still be in there.

“Ensign Tilly,” Saru spoke up once the situation on the bridge had calmed down for a moment, pulling her out of her thoughts and worries. “Perhaps you could run down to sickbay for me and ask for a report on their current status.”

“S-sure, of course, sir!” she responded, although a little confused. She’d been on edge thinking about her boss and worrying if he was going to be alright the whole time, and the opportunity to go down there excited her. Then she stopped and frowned. “But—why don’t we just comm them?”

Saru gave her a meaningful look.

“We could do that, of course,” he said with his usual, calm demeanor. “But I thought you might be interested in talking to the people in various departments of a ship in person on as many occasions as you can, especially in moments like this, if the situation allows it. For a future Starfleet captain, this is a beneficial lesson and a valuable habit to build. Besides,” he added pointedly, “I believe you may wish to confirm the status of certain patients yourself.”

Tilly’s cheeks turned pink. He’d seen right through her.

“Thank—thank you, sir! I’ll be on my way!”

Saru nodded understandingly and watched her go.

 

***

 

Hesitantly Tilly set foot into sickbay and nervously looked around. The room was much fuller than usual, not nearly enough biobeds available for all the injured that were still being treated. But at least things seemed to have calmed down significantly since the last time she’d been down here to bring in Stamets. Doctor Culber seemed to notice her first; he quickly excused himself to the nurse he was talking to and walked over to her.

“Ensign Tilly, is everything okay?” he said with his usual professional yet warm smile.

“Um—yes, sir. Commander Saru sent me down here to—to get a status report.”

There was something knowing about his smile now.

“Of course.”

He gave her a quick rundown of the current situation; apparently several injured still had to be treated or would require time and rest to recover, but so far, everyone was out of any immediate danger. Culber also asked if she could tell them anything yet as to whether their jump into the future had been successful, and she was happy to share what she knew.

He seemed to notice how her eyes kept darting around the room and smiled.

“Do you have any further questions about the condition of a specific patient?” he asked her.

Tilly felt another blush appear on her cheeks.

“Yes, doctor—um … Is—how is Commander Stamets? Is he okay?”

“Yes, he is,” Culber replied, and the way he was positively beaming at the mention of Stamets’ name gave her hope that the two of them had finally made up. “But he still needs a little rest.” He probably noticed her bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet and added, “You can talk to him if you want.”

“Thank you, sir!” Tilly said and rushed over to her boss’s bed as quickly as she could without appearing overly rude to the doctor.

Stamets’ eyes were closed and his bare chest had been covered with a light, gray blanket. The scrapes and scratches and blood were gone from his face and, she hoped, from the rest of his body, too. No more ship parts impaling his chest, at least.

“Sir?” she said quietly, leaning in.

His eyes fluttered open in a slow movement. He looked exhausted, but as soon as he recognized his visitor, a little smile bloomed on his face.

“Ensign.” His voice sounded weak, still a little ragged. “You’re okay.”

“Yes, sir.” She laughed nervously. “Of course I’m okay. I was worried about _you_ , actually.”

“Oh, I’m all better now,” he said, closing his eyes again. “Doctor Culber is taking excellent care of me.” The smile on his face was just as sweet and fond as that on the doctor’s. Tilly couldn’t help smiling as well. It looked like they really were all better now. Finally.

“That’s good, sir. Now you get some rest and get better soon.”

“Tilly—just tell me. Did we make it? Did we finish the suit in time? Did it work? Did Commander Burnham—” He started coughing.

Tilly reflexively reached for his hand and nervously looked around for Doctor Culber. But the coughing fit was over almost as quickly as it came.

“Yes, sir, we did it—she did it. You finished the suit. We’ve made it—to the future. Wait until you see everything!”

He chuckled and smiled fondly at her.

“I can’t wait.”

Slowly, his eyes fell shut again. The exhaustion was still clear on his face.

“I’ll leave you be now, commander,” she said. “I have to report back to the bridge. I’ll leave you to the expert care of Doctor Culber.”

With another smile, he responded.

“You do that, Ensign Tilly.”


End file.
